Score Sample

Audio Sample

(this sample is of the Saxophone with string orchestra version of this work)

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Product details

This work consists of two movements, Song of Home and
Lament and Yearning. Based upon three melodies from
Australia's far north, the first is an almost-forgotten popular
song from Thursday Island. During World War II, with the threat
of invasion, it gave comfort to the islanders. The second is a
chant called Djilile, from the nearby mainland coast. It means
'whistling-duck on a billabong'. The third is a lament from Elcho
Island. This was passed on to me some years ago by a local tribal
elder.

Song of Home embraces the first two of the melodies and
also makes references to the third. It sings of the love that the
indigenous inhabitants have for their island home, the place
where they and their ancestors were born. Sadly, because of
climate change many of these places are now in peril. The second
movement begins with the lament, with the thought of islands that
may disappear forever in the rising tidal waters. This finally
gives way to a return of the Thursday Island music. Here, it
sings of the yearning for a more stable world. Given the will to
do so, it is still possible for humankind to halt the worst
effects of climate change.